Death on a Deadline: A Homefront News Mystery

It’s the summer of 1942 in St. Anthony’s enjoyable sequel to Front Page Murder, and 22-year-old Irene Ingram continues to act as editor-in-chief of the Progress Herald in Progress, Pa., in place of her father while he serves as a war correspondent in the Pacific. Hollywood is leading the war bond effort, and residents of Progress are abuzz about a group of actors coming to the town fair to help sell bonds. One starlet is hometown girl Angela Harrison, who’s estranged from her roguish husband, B-movie star Freddie, who’s also on the tour. When Freddie turns up dead and rumors of a secret black book he had are whispered about, Irene sets out to discover the truth of what happened. Multiple suspects and complications, including a second murder, keep the pages turning. St. Anthony does a fine job bringing the period and place to life while taking care to develop secondary characters likely to play roles in future installments. The identity of the culprit comes as a real surprise. Readers will hope to see a lot more of Irene and friends. Agent: Melissa Jeglinski, Knight Agency. (Nov.)